Page 29 [29]
1.5. Regulatory Concepts in Environmental Codifications
is based on the law of the common destination of earthly goods. If this social
guality is overlooked, property often becomes an occasion of passionate desires
for wealth and serious disturbances, so that a pretext is given to the attackers
for calling the right itself into question.”
The Catholic Church’s focus on ecological issues, which began in the 1960s,
was highlighted at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
in Stockholm in 1972.** This process culminated in Pope Paul VI’s papal
message, which firmly affirmed the goodness of creation, our responsibility
to steward the natural environment for future generations, and the principle
of global solidarity.
“But how can we ignore the imbalances caused in the biosphere by the
disorderly exploitation of the physical reserves of the planet, even for the
purpose of prodcing something useful, such as the wasting of natural
resources that cannot be renewed; pollution of the earth, water, air and
space, with the resulting assaults on vegetable and animal life? All that
contributes to the impoverishment and deterioration of man’s environment
to the extent, it is said, of threatening his own survival. Finally, our
generation must energetically accept the challenge of going beyond partial
and immediate goals in order to prepare a hospitable earth for future
generations."
This period laid the groundwork for later papal teachings, such as Pope John
Paul IPs 1990 World Day of Peace message, which explicitly called for ecological
responsibility, and Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, which
comprehensively addresses the ecological crisis.
Paul VI’s contributions were foundational, blending theology with a call
to action for environmental care and global solidarity. In his message, Paul
VI emphasized humankind’s responsibility, stating that:
“The care of preserving and improving the natural environment, like the
noble ambition of stimulating a first gesture of world cooperation in his
field, so precious for everyone, meets needs that are deeply felt among the
men of our times. Today, indeed, there is a growing awareness that man
and his environment are more inseparable than ever. The environment
archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et¬
spes_en.htm.
> United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 5-16 June 1972),
https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/stockholm1972.
Pope Paul VI, Message on the Occasion of the International Conference of the United Nations on
the Environment Held in Stockholm (1 June 1972), Vatican, https://www.vatican.va/content/
paul-vi/en/messages/pont-messages/documents/hf_p-vi_mess_19720605_conferenza¬
ambiente.html.
55
27